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I was first introduced to Nick Cutter back in 2014 with his novel The Troop, which, not only scared, but disgusted the hell out of me. You need to read it. I do have the following novel, The Deep, but haven’t had a chance to dive into it yet!

The blurb:

From electrifying horror author Nick Cutter comes a haunting new novel, reminiscent of Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian and Stephen King’s It, in which a trio of mismatched mercenaries is hired by a young woman for a deceptively simple task: check in on her nephew, who may have been taken against his will to a remote New Mexico backwoods settlement called Little Heaven. Shortly after they arrive, things begin to turn ominous. Stirrings in the woods and over the treetops—the brooding shape of a monolith known as the Black Rock casts its terrible pall. Paranoia and distrust grips the settlement. The escape routes are gradually cut off as events spiral towards madness. Hell—or the closest thing to it—invades Little Heaven. The remaining occupants are forced to take a stand and fight back, but whatever has cast its dark eye on Little Heaven is now marshaling its powers…and it wants them all.

A count who experiments with electro-stimulation of human blood discovers that his wife is having an affair. Catching the two lovers together, the count tortures and kills them, using their hearts and blood to further his experiments and to restore the beauty of his own lover. After his wife’s death, the count discovers that her castle and fortune are to be given to her sister instead of him. Hoping to continue his lifestyle and his experiments, the count manipulates the sister and marries her, hoping to eliminate her as he did his first wife, not knowing that the spirits of his wife and her lover are out for revenge.

Watch it or Skip it? Watch it. It’s pretty good. Not as scary as the horror movies of today, but this Italian Gothic is one to be seen.

Today I decided to switch from the 50 Legends of Horror to the 50 Horror Classics (both of which make up the 100 Greatest Horror Classics collection) in hopes of getting some better, or at least, more interesting flicks, and some real classics that I adore! I’m not hard to please, really, I like a lot of things where many people don’t, but some of these movies are just falling flat to me.

With that, today’s selections are Carnival of Souls, Atom Age Vampire, and Creature from the Haunted Sea.

A young woman apparently survives a drag race accident that had the car she was in toppling off of a bridge and into the river below. Unfazed by this experience, the woman heads off cross country to her new job as a church organist. Experiencing strange things along her trip and also when she arrives at her new home, the woman begins to suspect that her survival of the accident was not as it appears.

Watch it or Skip it? Watch it! I saw this one many many years ago and I love it. Even though of course we figure out what is happening to the woman long before she does for herself, it doesn’t take away from this one. And since I love the creepiness of organ music, this movie really calls to me.

An exotic dancer has a terrible automobile accident and as a result is horribly scarred on her face. Hoping for a miracle treatment, the dancer visits a scientist who has had marvelous results in restoring patient’s appearances and is cured of her scars. Unfortunately, there are some terrible side-effects from the procedure that the scientist must use some unethical methods to try and make the cure permanent. With suspicions growing in the dancer’s boyfriend and the authorities closing in, the scientist tries some last-minute treatments to help the dancer and also win her heart.

Watch it or Skip it? Skip it. This movie is just, I don’t even know how to describe it. Some movies from this era are just spectacular, while some, like this one, are just not up to par. It is another that has left me with many unanswered questions, confused, and not paying 100% attention to it.

An American gangster agrees to transport a group of Caribbean exiles and their national treasury to safe haven, with the intent of eliminating the exiles and keeping the money. Hoping to use the local legend of a sea monster as cover for killing off the soldiers, the gangster and his crew discover that the legend is true.

Watch it or Skip it? Watch it! This one is so horrible it makes it so good. You got action, you got gangsters, you got a pretty lady, you got singing, and you got one horrible creature costume. What more could you ask for?

A deranged man murders another man in order to assume his identity and take over a recently inherited estate. Soon after arriving at the estate, the psychotic man finds he must continue his murderous tendencies in order to keep hi charade from being exposed. As the number of victims increase along with is deepening madness, it becomes a matter of time before all is revealed and the man’s true identity is exposed.

Watch it or Skip it? Watch it. I enjoyed this one.

The Long Hair of Death
1964
Starring: Barbara Steele, George Ardisson, Halina Zalewsky

The blurb:

A woman is put to death after being accused of witchcraft. Her daughter confronts the man who accused her mother of the crime and discovers the true reason for the accusation, but loses her life in doing so. The youngest daughter is taken in by the man’s family and is raised by them, with the intent to marry her off to the man’s son. When the girl comes of age, her deceased sister returns to exact her revenge upon the family.

Watch it or Skip it? Skip it. This movie couldn’t keep my interest and I found myself being confused with what exactly was happening. I liked the ending though.

The Incredible Petrified World
1957
Starring: John Carradine, Robert Clarke, Phyllis Coates

The blurb:

When a diving bell goes missing along with its crew of four, their expedition gives up hope of finding them alive. However the missing vehicle has become trapped in a labyrinth of underwater caverns. After exiting their craft, the foursome encounters a survivor from a shipwreck who informs them that there is no escape from their underwater tomb. Our intrepid explorers, however, trace the flow of oxygen to a volcanic vent and a possible escape route.

Watch it or Skip it? Skip it. I had high hopes for this one, partly because I love movies involving the deep sea, diving, exploration, caves, and caverns. But this movie fell flat.

A woman and her lover murder her invalid physician husband in order to take his fortune and live their lives together. Watched by the physician’s faithful housekeeper, the two lovers begin searching for the money they believe is hidden upon the grounds of the estate. When mysterious occurrences begin to happen to the couple, they suspect that the physician’s ghost has appeared to seek revenge for their crime.

Watch it or skip it? Watch it!

I really enjoyed this one. And there is a nice little twist at the end.

It’s October 1st! So that means, it’s another year of Blogtober! I missed last year, so I am very excited to get back to it this year.

This year, I’ve decided to make my way through a collection of 100 movies of the Legends of Horror/Greatest Horror Classics.

Tonight’s selection is:

Jamaica Inn

This is a 1939 film directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Starring Charles Laughton, Robert Newton, Maureen O’Hara

The blurb:

Adapted from a Daphne Du Maurier story, the film takes place at a small inn on the coast of Cornwall. The inn is the base of operations of a band of criminals who deliberately shipwreck vessels for their cargo. The arrival of one of the gang member’s niece and also a Lloyd’s of London investigator disrupt the gang’s plans.

No blood or guts in this one, but it’s still pretty good. Being a film from the 30’s, it is definitely from a different era, so many may be disinterested in it and not call it a horror classic. But I say to give it a chance. Plus it’s a Hitchcock!!

It looks like they did a remake of this film in 2015. I’ll have to check it out.

This mask is definitely an iconic one, and one of my favorite horror masks.

HALLOWEEN MUST WATCH MOVIES:

The Scream Series

This is, in my opinion, one of the few series in the horror genre in which all the movies are great, and could hold their own. I love each one of them equally. I started watching them last night, and will be watching the 4th one when I am done with this blog.

Movie Descriptions:

Scream (1996): After a series of mysterious deaths, an offbeat group of friends get caught up in a lovely mix of thrills and chills!

Scream 2 (1997): Away at college, Sidney Prescott thought she’d finally put the shocking murders that shattered her life behind her…until a copycat killer begins acting out a real-life sequel! Now as history repeats itself, ambitious reported Gale Weathers, deputy Dewey, and other Scream survivors find themselves trapped in a terrifyingly clever plotline where no one is safe or beyond suspicion!

Scream 3 (2000): While Sidney Prescott lives in safely guarded seclusion, bodies begin dropping around the Hollywood set of Stab 3, the latest movie sequel based on the gruesome Greensboro killings! And when the escalating terror finally brings her out of hiding, Sidney and other Greensboro survivors are once again drawn into an insidious game of horror movie mayhem! But just when they thought they knew how to play by the rules, they discover that all the rules have been broken!

Scream 4 (2011): Sidney Prescott, now the author of a self-help book, returns home to Woodsboro on the last stop of her book tour. There she reconnects with Sheriff Dewey and Gale, who are now married, as well as her cousin Jill. Unfortunately Sidney’s appearance also brings about the return of Ghost Face, putting Sidney, Gale, and Dewey, along with Jill, her friends, and the whole town of Woodsboro in danger.

*Not sure why they have Greensboro typed on the dvd case for Scream 3, but I didn’t change it to Woodsboro, which it should be.*

My all-time favorite Halloween related thing would have to be “Roseanne” Halloween episodes. No television show could rival it. Except maybe “Home Improvement” definitely came close (I wish they would release those on a dvd collection). Roseanne is one of my absolute favorite shows, and they knew how to do Halloween. While the last couple of the show seemed slightly off to me, as a whole, they are simply the best.

HALLOWEEN MUST WATCH MOVIES:

“Roseanne” Halloween Edition!

Not a movie, but deserves to be on the list.

You can find all the Halloween episodes of “Roseanne” on a lovely, umm, gruesome dvd.

The episodes are:

BOO! – The Conners kick off a family tradition with a night of increasingly outrageous pranks.

TRICK OR TREAT – When Roseanne wears a lumberjack costume, she learns a few hilarious lessons about ‘real’ men.

TRICK ME UP, TRICK ME DOWN – Jackie flirts with with a moose and Roseanne pranks the new neighbors.

HALLOWEEN IV – Having lost her holiday spirit, Roseanne is visited by the ghosts of Halloween past, present, and future.

HALLOWEEN V – It’s Halloween night at the diner, but the real shocks are about to come from some very unexpected places.

SKELETON IN THE CLOSET – A Halloween party at the Lunch Box brings out Leon’s gay friends as well as Bev’s hair-raising secret.

HALLOWEEN: THE FINAL CHAPTER – Roseanne’s ouija board delivers the most unexpected news of all.

My favorite of them is definitely the first one, BOO! It is everything I love about the show.

These blogs will be related to all things Halloween; in the horror genre; and things that are thrilling, suspenseful, frightening, gruesome, spine chilling, etc etc etc.

They will contain 2 parts.

1. The first part will be my favorite things. They will range from movies, actors, directors, series, characters, places, books, and even items.

2. The second part will be a movie from my Must Watch Halloween Movie List. (I saw a list on FB the other week, and I will be changing it up a little bit). They will be in no particular order.

Growing up, Halloween was always my favorite holiday. It wasn’t all about the candy. I always had a blast carving pumpkins, decorating, dressing up, and getting my butt scared. The best part of trick or treating to me was getting to see people’s houses decorated and getting freaked out.